Panthers Draft Ealy, Turner

With the Carolina Panthers drafting Kelvin Benjamin in the first round, many thought their focus would turn to offensive tackle and cornerback.

But Dave Gettleman had other plans.

With the 60th overall pick, the Panthers drafted defensive end Kony Ealy out of Missouri in the second round. With the 92nd overall pick, they drafted offensive guard Trai Turner out of LSU in the third round.

At first, many were confused and even angry about drafting Ealy, a guy who many experts had going in the first round, especially considering Virginia offensive tackle Morgan Moses and Penn State wide receiver Allen Robinson were still available.

However, after thinking about it, drafting Ealy was a good move. First of all, he is the definition of a steal in the draft. A guy with first round talent falling all the way to 60? Steal. Second, you have to think: what if something happens with Greg Hardy or Charles Johnson? If something does, we now have a backup plan. Even if nothing happens with them, letting a guy with so much talent and potential like Ealy learn under two of the best DEs in football will make him scary good.

In the third round, the Panthers focused on their offensive line by drafting Turner. A guard out of LSU, Turner's specialty is run blocking. To be honest, I'm a little worried about this pick, simply because it may mean we don't take a tackle in the draft at all. Gettleman has reiterated countless times over the offseason that Byron Bell would play tackle, which is scary to think about. But Gettleman seems to have faith in him.

However, Turner is a pretty solid guard and having him around will give a boost to our run game.

Rounds 4-7 are tonight, so let's see where the team will go from here.